Nation

Pre-dawn accident causes gridlock on Penang bridge

BUKIT MERTAJAM: A pre-dawn accident on the Penang Bridge caused a massive traffic jam for motorists travelling from the island to the mainland, making the morning rush hour to work worse as vehicles queued for several kilometres on Jalan Tunku Kudin and Jalan Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu on the island.

Motorists arrived late to work Thursday morning as it took more than two hours to remove the wreckage from the scene.

A 20-year-old insurance agent was killed on the spot during the incident when the Toyota Camry he was a passenger in hit the divider on the middle, then rammed a five-ton lorry and skidded for about 200m before a car overturned during the 5.15am incident yesterday.

The lorry landed on its side when the car rammed into it.

The victim identified as Ang Keat Sheng died due to serious head injuries while the driver of the car sustained minor injuries during the incident at Km1 when they were returning to their home from the island to Jalan Raja Uda in Butterworth.

Sources said the victim and his friend, both insurance agents, were returning home after attending an event overnight on the island.

The body was sent to the Seberang Jaya Hospital mortuary for the post mortem.